First St. Paul LRV makes ceremonial debut

The first light rail vehicle for St. Paul, Minn.'s Central Corridor, now also dubbed the Green Line, made its debut Wednesday—in neighboring Minneapolis, at Target Field Station on the existing Hiawatha LRT line.

Built by Siemens Mobility, S70 car #201 is the first of 47 cars ordered by Metropolitan Council for the Green Line. Another 12 also are expected to provide three-car trains for the existing Hiawatha Line serving Minneapolis.

Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh and other dignitaries marked the event as one of continued progress for the Central Corridor, which a Met Council spokeswoman said Monday was 74% complete. The 11-mile, $957 million line is expected to open for revenue service in 2014. Installation of the electrical, signaling, and communications systems, as well as testing the operation of trains, will occur in 2013 and 2014 before revenue service begins.

Last month work crews joined the Central Corridor LRT track, under construction mostly in St. Paul existing Hiawatha LRT track when they welded the two lines together between the Metrodome and Cedar Riverside LRT stations in Minneapolis. The Central Corridor also will terminate at Target Field Station in Minneapolis, sharing five stations with the Hiawatha Line.

Also scheduled for Wednesday was an open house seeking public input on a plan by Metro Transit to link bus routes with the Green Line once LRT service begins. Metropolitan Council is expected to approve a final route plan next month.